


can’t help falling in love

by mcshinwon



Category: Pentagon (Korea Band)
Genre: Mutual Pining, Polyamory, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, The rest of the boys r there too, also a few other artists and groups r vibing, idiots to lovers, they’re just minor characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:41:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27238219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcshinwon/pseuds/mcshinwon
Summary: “Hyunggu sighed before dipping his biggest brush into a lavender shade of paint and setting it against his skin, covering the sprawling handwriting and coating his skin. He felt the tingling stop, but he continued painting anyways. If the first person wanted flowers, he’d give them a flower. Once the argument had been covered, he moved for the yellow, painting a small oval on his skin before taking white paint and drawing thin petals branching out from the center. The last thing he added was the stem, moving his brush down his arm in a long and thin line. He set the brush down and stared at his work. It wasn’t half bad, considering he’d painted it on his skin in the middle of the night, although one glance out of the window told him it wasn’t the middle of the night anymore. The horizon was glowing dully as the sun threatened to spill over it and Hyunggu sighed. Now he was both tired and covered in paint.“Or: the one in which Hyunggu finds out he has not just one, but two soulmates, and him and Shinwon decide to make it their mission to figure out who the mysterious third person is
Relationships: Kang Hyunggu | Kino/Ko Shinwon/Lee Hwitaek | Hui
Comments: 8
Kudos: 31





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> so full disclaimer that I’m obvs already in the middle of a long fic and that’s my main priority atm, but I started writing this as like a palate cleanser so i could take a break from all the angst lmao,, that being said I’m already invested in this so even if the updates are sporadic, i don’t plan on leaving y’all hangin,,

Contrary to popular belief, soulmates weren’t something one was born with. They were something that one had to find and discover first. Soulmarks were common and people walked around either wearing them with pride or shyly hiding them away, but in order to get a soulmark, one had to meet their soulmate first. They had to fall for them, whether they realized it or not, and then the marks would follow. Kang Hyunggu’s problems didn’t lie with the inability to find a soulmate, but rather finding out who they were. He’d always thought he was good at reading people but for the first time, he’d been left stumped.

The first mark he’d gotten had been written on his hand in a quick and sloppy handwriting. It’d clearly been unintentional because it was nothing more than a reminder to whoever had written it to take their medicine. Maybe it hadn’t been meant for him, but then again, Hyunggu had realized that he needed to take his meds anyways. As he set down his glass, swallowing the small pill, he reached for a pen. On his wrist, he left a single small flower.

If his soulmate knew who he was, they said nothing. As for him, he was completely clueless. In class, he’d scan the arms of his peers, and when he hung out with his friends he’d subtly doodle on his arm just to see if something would appear on any of theirs, but he never saw anything. In fact, he was beginning to think that the reminder was a mistake, that it wasn’t meant for him and that it’d appeared on him instead of whoever it was meant for. He hadn’t heard of soulmates being mixed up before, but since that first mark, nothing else had appeared on him.

When he woke up to a faint tingling across his skin, he’d thought that maybe he was being hopeful. He was supposed to sleep in; he’d been up late the night before to catch up on music theory work, and Sundays were his free day, but instead, he was sitting straight up in his bed at a crisp 5:27 am, blinking at his arm in confusion.

_Why did you stop drawing flowers?_

He had to be dreaming, right? He stared at the sloppy ink on his arm in confusion, but then his mind caught up and he stumbled out of his bed in search of a pen or a marker or anything. He settled for a watercolor pen, partially out of convenience and partially because he knew that it’d wash off of himself easily even if it lingered on his soulmate’s skin. It was a deep shade of purple and he had to be careful as he wrote so that it wouldn’t smear.

**What time is it for you? Shouldn’t you still be asleep?**

Almost immediately after he clicked the cap back onto the pen, he felt his skin begin to prickle again, the sensation of a pen moving across it as letters appeared.

_About 5:30. Haven’t slept yet. I miss your flowers :(_

Hyunggu scoffed. So whoever it was, they were in the same time zone as him. He supposed that made enough sense, considering it had to be someone he’d met before, but he couldn’t think of anybody he knew who’d be awake at that time. 

**I didn’t think you saw them. You never said anything back.**

He didn’t finish writing the sentence before his skin started tingling again, but the sensation was slightly different. It was softer, as if the writing implement had changed, and he furrowed his eyebrows as he saw a decidedly different handwriting appear across his skin.

**_Could you two be quiet? I just fell asleep and you woke me up._ **

What. 

_What?_

The first person’s handwriting reappeared on Hyunggu’s arm and he stared incredulously, watching as the second person’s handwriting appeared under it.

**_What do you not understand about ‘be quiet’? I don’t appreciate being woken up._ **

_You mean to tell me I have two soulmates?????????_

**_So do I, and they woke me up at the crack of dawn!_ **

_… Sorry?_

Hyunggu sighed, standing up and ignoring the feeling of his arm continuing to tingle as the two strangers went back and forth on it, turning on his light and rummaging through the drawers of his desk. He ended up with a couple of paint brushes and some paints. When he rolled up his sleeve, the two were still bickering.

_It’s not my fault you’re a light sleeper. I haven’t even slept yet, and I’m not complaining._

Hyunggu sighed before dipping his biggest brush into a lavender shade of paint and setting it against his skin, covering the sprawling handwriting and coating his skin. He felt the tingling stop, but he continued painting anyways. If the first person wanted flowers, he’d give them a flower. Once the argument had been covered, he moved for the yellow, painting a small oval on his skin before taking white paint and drawing thin petals branching out from the center. The last thing he added was the stem, moving his brush down his arm in a long and thin line. He set the brush down and stared at his work. It wasn’t half bad, considering he’d painted it on his skin in the middle of the night, although one glance out of the window told him it wasn’t the middle of the night anymore. The horizon was glowing dully as the sun threatened to spill over it and Hyunggu sighed. Now he was both tired and covered in paint. 

* * *

“I got you an extra shot,” Hyuna’s voice appeared behind Hyunggu, and a moment later she was setting a mocha in front of him.

“That obvious I slept like shit?” Hyunggu asked, reaching for it as she slid back into her chair across from him.

“Yeah. You look as pretty as ever, but you’re awfully quiet today. Usually you’re not quiet unless you’re tired. Was it your music theory class again?” 

Hyunggu shrugged vaguely as he lifted the cup to his lips, taking a sip. He furrowed his brows. The taste he was met with wasn’t unpleasant by any means, but it was different than a mocha, extra shot or not. Lavender, maybe? He didn’t even know the coffee shop had lavender and he’d been coming there regularly since he’d started college. “Yeah. That, and weird soulmate stuff,” he sighed, setting the cup down.

“Oh? Did you finally get a response from them?” Hyuna’s eyebrows shot up and she leaned forward, resting her chin in her hands. Hyunggu was sure there was no way she’d let him leave without every detail, but he wasn’t exactly sure what had happened either.

“Yeah, but more than that. They woke me up at the crack of dawn complaining that I stopped drawing flowers and so I yelled at them for waking me up but then…” he frowned, his eyebrows knitting together. “Someone else wrote to us too. Told us to shut up because they were trying to sleep. I have _two_ soulmates.” He leaned across the table, pulling up the sleeve of his hoodie to show her the marks that still littered his arm. He hadn’t been able to wash all of the paint off so there were a couple places his skin was stained slightly purple, but the writing that littered his arm wasn’t his own. It showed no sign of fading, and he knew it’d probably linger for the rest of the day. 

“Wow,” she said, reaching for his arm as her eyes scanned the conversation. “They both seem sassy… just like-“

“If you’re about to call me sassy, I don’t wanna hear it,” Hyunggu sighed, pulling his arm back so he could bury his face in his arms.

“Any ideas on who either of them are?”

“Absolutely none. I feel like I’d notice if any of my friends or classmates had a purple half sleeve with a flower on it,” he sighed, shaking his head.

“A half sleeve? Wait… did you paint a daisy?”

“Yeah, why?” Hyunggu asked, but then his brain caught up to him. “Who did you see?”

Hyuna slid a glance towards the counter she’d come from but then she shrugged vaguely. Hyunggu sighed, shaking his head before pushing out of his chair, cup in hand as he stormed to the counter. 

“Uh oh, is something wrong with your coffee?” The barista at the register asked, an eyebrow raised. Hyunggu recognized him vaguely from one of his dance classes. His name was Minhyuk and he’d started the year after him, but he was a pretty solid dancer. 

“No… no it’s actually great. Who made it?” 

“Hmm, that looks like Shinwon’s handwriting. He just went on break,” Minhyuk peered at the cup before looking at Hyunggu in confusion. 

“Well, I need to talk to him. It’s important,” Hyunggu said. He crossed his arms in a way that he hoped conveyed that he wouldn’t take no for an answer, and eventually. Minhyuk sighed before gesturing for him to follow. 

“San, I need you to watch the register for a second. I’ll be right back,” he called as he led Hyunggu past the counter and down the hall. “Did he do something weird to your coffee? Do I even wanna know? Please don’t fight anyone in my store,” Minhyuk spoke, casting a glance back to make sure Hyunggu was behind him still.

“I’m not gonna fight anybody… I don’t think… he put lavender in my coffee, but I’m not upset about it.”

“Asshole… that’s supposed to cost extra. Do you know him?”

“No.”

Minhyuk turned around, starting at Hyunggu with an incredulous expression, before sighing and shaking his head. He rapped on the door of the break room before pushing it open. “Hey, Shinwon. I don’t know what you did, but a customer needs to talk to you,” he said, and then he was pushing Hyunggu through the doorway with a hand and making his way back down the hall. 

While the cafe was mostly minimalist in decor with open windows and white walls, the break room contrasted with it. Two of the walls were exposed brick and they were covered in posters that ranged from work related guidelines to band posters. There were a handful of tables and chairs, none of which matched each other, and in the corner of the room, a tall man was sitting, sipping hot chocolate and staring at Hyunggu with a bewildered expression.

“Did you not like the lavender?” He asked. His voice was surprisingly sweet and soft and he formed his words in a way that Hyunggu could only describe as cute. 

“Your arm. Let me see it,” Hyunggu spoke without missing a beat. 

Shinwon raised an eyebrow and moved to roll up the sleeve of his shirt. Sure enough, his skin was a canvas of lavender paint that couldn’t be washed off by soap or water, the center of his arm showing a single daisy. “Pretty, right?”

“I painted it,” Hyunggu said. Shinwon continued to stare at him with vague curiosity rather than shock. “You’re not gonna say anything?”

Shinwon shrugged. “I kinda suspected. You come in here all the time and I’m almost always the one who makes your coffee. Most days you like just a regular 16 oz mocha with almond milk, but on days that you’re tired you’ll get an extra shot. If you don’t feel like getting a mocha, you get a cold brew with cherry juice and brown sugar,” he said. “I see you drawing in here all the time though. You doodled something similar to this-“ he gestured to his arm, “on a napkin one time. When you painted this, I knew it was you.” He sounded confident. 

And sure, Hyunggu had seen the guy almost every time he’d come to get coffee. He was cute and tall and there was no way that he wouldn’t have noticed him, but he wasn’t great with names and he hadn’t really thought anything of their interactions. The local coffee shop was the last place he expected to find his soulmate - or at least one of his soulmates. 

“And what about the other person? Do you know who they are?”

“I didn’t even know I had a second soulmate until this morning,” Shinwon shrugged. 

“That makes two of us,” Hyunggu sighed. 

“Well… seeing as we’re soulmates… are you free later? I get off of work at four. We could get fast food and people watch.”

“Is that your idea of a romantic evening?” Hyunggu scoffed, raising an eyebrow. Shinwon simply laughed, his face breaking into a small grin.

“Romantic? Hardly. Loads of fun? Absolutely. Maybe we can try to hunt down our mystery person.”

“If they wanna be found, that is. They didn’t exactly seem thrilled this morning,” Hyunggu said with a sigh. 

“Ehh, maybe they’re just not a morning person. I know I’m not,” Shinwon’s nose wrinkled as he fought back a yawn and then failed. 

“Then why were you awake at 5:30?”

“I couldn’t fall asleep, and then once it got to about 5, I gave up because I figured I’d have to wake up for work in a couple of hours.”

“And you’d rather run around town after work than sleep?”

“Are you gonna keep interrogating me all day, or give me an answer?”

“I’ll meet you at the bell tower on campus at 5. Don’t be late,” Hyunggu said. He was backing out of the break room before Shinwon could answer and before he could chicken out. Not that he wasn’t confident in himself, but he’d gotten so used to not knowing who his soulmate was that having that knowledge suddenly was unsettling; he didn’t know what to do with it. It made sense to go on a date, sure, but he barely knew the guy and even if he was cute, he could hardly fall in love with him over night. Then again, Shinwon seemed to have been the one to have already fallen. Which left him wondering who their mysterious third person was. Shinwon had been confident about Hyunggu, but he had no answers for the other person, so they were both clueless. Did that mean the third person had fallen for both of them? 

“So?” Hyuna’s voice broke him out of his thoughts. He hadn’t even realized he’d made his way back to the table, and now she was staring at him with curiosity.

“One down, one to go,” Hyunggu simply said.

“Is he your type? He looked cute. What’s he like?”

“I don’t even know if I have a type,” Hyunggu sighed, burying his face in his hands. “We’re going on a date later though, so I guess that’ll be the moment of truth.”

“Ooooo~ text me all the details tomorrow!”

“Why not tonight?”

She smirked, pointing at her wrist, where a fresh message had appeared. It simply said a time on it. 

“Noted,” Hyunggu said.

* * *

Hyunggu was waiting at the clock tower by 4:30. He knew he was early and he knew Shinwon would likely need time to clean up after work anyways, but the closer it got to the time, the more restless he’d become. It was nearing the midpoint of the semester and it had finally gotten to a point where the weather was consistently cold. He didn’t mind, as long as it was still sunny sometimes, and besides, it gave him an excuse to wear layers and bring out his comfy clothes. Instead, he sprawled out on the grass, pulling out his sketchbook. He flipped to the page he’d left off at; it was an unfinished landscape he’d begun. It was of the garden that was outside the music building, a few nameless figures walking in the lawn or looming as shadows in the windows. He’d naturally spent the most time bringing out every detail of the garden, and he had tired himself out before he got to finishing the picture. He brought his pencil to the paper, moving to one of the figures in the window of the building, cleaning up the lines and adding more detail so that it looked more like the silhouette of a person rather than the looming figure of some sort of demon. As his pencil moved across the paper, the sounds of the world around him melted away.

“Are you an art major?”

Shinwon’s voice came from next to him, close enough that Hyunggu could see the air fogging up from his breath. He hadn’t even seen him approach, let alone notice him sit down. Hyunggu let out an indignant squeak, dropping his pencil before moving to regain his composure.

“No. I’m actually a music major,” he said with a shaky laugh. “How long have you been watching me?”

“A few minutes,” Shinwon shrugged. “You were very focused so I didn’t wanna disrupt you. I didn’t mean to scare you though. You’re really good at drawing.”

“Thanks,” Hyunggu smiled, moving to flip his sketchbook shut so he could turn and give Shinwon his full attention. The other had changed out of his work uniform and into loose fitting green pants and a white tee shirt. Over it he wore a zip up hoodie and a green and orange flannel that was somehow oversized on him despite him already being tall. His dark hair stuck out from a corduroy cap, and he seemed to be wearing it more to tame his hair than to keep warm. His clothing was loose and casual, but it suited him. 

“So music, huh?”

“Yeah,” Hyunggu nodded, “I mostly do composition but I can play piano and guitar. Also a little bit of flute. I’m actually double majoring though, so my other major is dance.”

“Wow,” Shinwon’s eyebrows shot up, “you can draw, dance, and do music? You’re like the whole package,” he grinned. 

“What about you? What’s your story?”

Shinwon shrugged, “I went to a community college for a few years, but I never could figure out what I really wanted to do. I have a degree in humanities but no idea what my plan is,” he laughed. 

“I feel the same way sometimes,” Hyunggu sighed. “Except, it’s not that I don’t know what I want, it’s that I want too many different things. I don’t have enough time to focus on all of them, y’know?”

“Yeah… can I look at your sketches?”

“Sure,” Hyunggu said with a shrug before passing the book to Shinwon. The other gently took it in his hands before opening it and peering at the landscapes and portraits that filled the pages. He paused on a page near the front of it. It was a portrait of a guy Hyunggu vaguely knew. He’d only talked to him a couple of times in passing; they were both in the music college but he was working on his master’s degree while Hyunggu was still finishing up his undergrad. Hyunggu had just asked him in passing if he could draw him while they were both waiting for a guest speaker one day. He’d almost forgotten about it, but Shinwon lingered on the page, staring at it with interest.

“How do you know him?”

“Same college, why?”

“That’s Hui. He comes in to get coffee every day. Usually he drinks it black. Strange though… he didn’t come in this morning. Hope he’s not sick,” Shinwon said, shrugging as he stared at the sketch for a few more moments. Then he gently closed the book and passed it back to Hyunggu. “So, wanna go get some burgers?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Hyunggu said with a laugh, gently placing the book back into his bag before pushing himself off of the ground. The pair of them set off, shoulders bumping as they made their way towards the strip of road that separated campus from the rest of town. It was filled with all sorts of restaurants and cute shops and it was almost an extension of campus itself. There weren’t a lot of people walking around outside because it was a Sunday evening; most of them were probably either at home catching up on classwork or nursing hangovers from the previous night. It was nice though, and Hyunggu enjoyed the sound of the leaves crunching under their feet and the faint echo of someone playing a clarinet somewhere. They _were_ right by the music college, after all. 

Hyunggu half expected Shinwon to take him to _Five Guys_ . It was right on the main strip and when he thought of burgers, that was the first place that came to mind. The taller kept walking past it, though, before turning down an alleyway. There were a couple of restaurants there, with seating areas on the sidewalk outside. Lanterns were strung overhead and Hyunggu could smell the food cooking before he saw the restaurant Shinwon was taking him to. It was some place called _TJ’s_ that Hyunggu had never noticed in his life. It looked kind of like a hole in the wall type of place, but the food smelled good and Hyunggu might not have known Shinwon well, but he didn’t think he would take him to some place with bad food.

“I know you’re judging, but just give it a chance. This place has the best burgers in town,” Shinwon said with a grin.

“Better than _Five Guys?_ ”

“I was never really a fan of _Five Guys_ to begin with,” Shinwon sighed, pushing the door open. The only seating inside were two thin bars; one against the grill and the other lining the window. There wasn’t much in the form of decoration and the menu signs were just black and white, the choices listed plainly. 

“I didn’t even know this place was here. I don’t really go down any of the alleys or side streets though…”

“That’s how you find the good stuff. You gotta explore a little bit, but this place? It’s an absolute gem,” Shinwon laughed. 

“I’ll take your word for it,” Hyunggu said, training his eyes on the menu. He ended up deciding on a burger called the _Rise ‘N Grind_ , which had a fried egg and bacon on it as well as _TJ’s Special Breakfast Sauce_. Hyunggu had no idea what to expect of the sauce, but he’d learnt that usually special sauces tasted good. He stepped up to the counter to place his order, and the cashier nodded along, writing it down on a notepad. 

“Will that be all for you?” She asked, and Hyunggu went to nod and grab his wallet, but before he could answer, Shinwon placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I got him covered. You know my order,” he smiled at the cashier and she nodded, her pen moving along the notepad.

“You don’t have to pay for me-“ Hyunggu began to interject, watching as Shinwon fished his wallet out of his pocket, but the other laughed.

“I asked you out, remember? What kinda date would it be if I didn’t pay?” 

Hyunggu flushed at that, and the way that Shinwon was grinning at him didn’t help. His smile was bright and genuine and cute and they were standing in the middle of a seedy diner and the only thing that Hyunggu could think about was how much he wanted to reach out and hold his hand. “You’ve got me there,” he said instead, crossing his arms and letting Shinwon pay. 

They waited by the counter while the cook got to grilling their burgers and making a shake. Once the order was ready, they handed the food to Shinwon in a brown bag and then handed him his shake. “Straws are in the bag,” the cook said, smiling. 

“Perfect. Thanks Pete,” he said, fistbumping the cook over the counter before turning to lead Hyunggu outside. 

“First name basis, huh?” 

“Yeah… I come here a lot,” Shinwon said with a sheepish grin as he led Hyunggu to one of the tables that was set up. They took a seat at it and Shinwon pulled out their burgers and fries, dispersing them between them before setting the shake on the table in between them. He stuck both straws in it. “One for you, one for me!” 

“Smooth,” Hyunggu said with a laugh, leaning forward to take a sip from one of the straws. Shinwon watched him with a curious expression, and honestly, Hyunggu didn’t have high expectations for the shake but his eyebrows shot into the air as he was met with a rich chocolate flavor. “Holy shit,” he whispered, taking another sip of it just to make sure he wasn’t crazy.

“I hope that’s a good holy shit,” Shinwon laughed, leaning to take a sip of the shake. His nose bumped Hyunggu’s. 

“This might be the best shake I’ve ever had, and I don’t say that lightly,” Hyunggu said in a solemn voice. “What do they put in this?”

“I dunno… I think there might be Belgian chocolate. Like I said, this place is no joke,” Shinwon hummed. He took another sip from the straw before sitting back and unwrapping his burger. Hyunggu watched with a raised eyebrow as he took the bun off of it before lining up a row of fries and emptying a ketchup packet onto it. 

“What?” Shinwon asked, setting the bun back on the burger and taking a bite out of it.

“You’re cute,” Hyunggu simply replied. 

“Well, I’d hope so. It’d be really awkward if my soulmate thought I was ugly…” Shinwon said around a bite, but Hyunggu didn’t miss the way his cheeks flushed. 

“And what do you think of me?” Hyunggu asked before he could stop himself. He began unwrapping his own burger, and Shinwon stared at him for a long moment as if he was trying to look into his soul. 

“You’re like the most beautiful flower I’ve ever seen. Funny, the first time I saw you, you reminded me of a flower. Then a couple weeks later, your flower appeared on my skin,” Shinwon said after a moment. “That was probably weird of me to say, ignore me,” he laughed uneasily, taking another bite of his burger. His ears were pink now. 

“I didn’t think that was weird at all,” Hyunggu said. He set his burger down on its wrapper and pushed himself out of his seat just enough that he could lean across the table to place a kiss on Shinwon’s cheek. When he pulled back, the other was gaping at him. _Cute._

“Your lips are so soft,” Shinwon managed, trying to regain his composure.

“I always keep lip balm on me. Soft lips are happy lips,” Hyunggu said with a laugh, picking up his burger and taking a bite. It was delicious and he couldn’t quite place the flavor of the sauce on it but it didn’t matter because it meshed perfectly with the egg and bacon and beef. 

“Oh, not me,” Shinwon shook his head quickly, reaching for a fry and mixing it around in ketchup. “I hate the way it feels on me. On other people, sure. But I can’t stand things on my lips,” he shrugged.

“Bummer… guess I won’t kiss your lips then,“

“Wait no, that’s not what I me-“

“I know, I’m just teasing you, Shinwon. You get flustered so easily. It’s adorable,” Hyunggu laughed, shaking his head as he took another bite of his burger. 

“What have I gotten myself into,” Shinwon sighed. Then, he shoved a fry into his mouth. Hyunggu just laughed louder before taking another bite of his burger. He’d stop teasing Shinwon for the moment, but only so they could finish eating without him melting before his eyes. Any worries Hyunggu had about finally getting to be with his soulmate had vanished easily. Sure, he’d need time to get to know him, but that didn’t scare him because he wanted to know him. He wanted to find out everything he could about the flustered beanpole who sat across from him devouring a burger like it was the best thing he’d ever eaten. Maybe having another soulmate in the mix was intimidating, but at least Hyunggu had Shinwon; they could find the other person together. He just hoped that they’d mesh with the other person as easily as they meshed with each other. 

When they left _TJ’s_ behind, Shinwon reached to hook his arm with Hyunggu’s. It felt nice. It felt right. Hyunggu had always heard people talking about their soulmates with wonder, describing how things just _clicked_ when they met, but part of him had always thought people were playing it up. Not that he wasn’t a hopeless romantic himself, but he’d also had his fair share of friends who couldn’t work things out with their soulmates. He was a natural worrier and every good thing came with its own what if’s, but just being with Shinwon made all of those worries melt away. 

They ended up making their way back the way they’d come from, following the sound of a brass quintet rehearsing a piece. There was a concert coming up and although the full ensembles would be playing, there were a lot of smaller groups performing as well. Hyunggu himself was part of a flute choir that had been rehearsing multiple times a week for the past month. The closer the concert got, the longer the rehearsals became, but then again that was what he’d signed up for when he decided to major in music. Thankfully, the big recital he’d had for dance had been the previous week, and it was like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. It was one less thing to worry about, for the time being. 

The pair of them ended up taking a seat on a bench that was surrounded by a garden, although most of the flowers were starting to die with the change of seasons. The bench was situated in the middle of a cluster of buildings and behind them, there were the clashing sounds of people rehearsing different songs through open windows; the sound of piano here, the trill of clarinets there. A man’s singing carried above it all, his voice sweet and smooth as he played a piano. 

“Good taste,” Hyunggu said, listening to the sound of the voice and zeroing in on the tune. Whoever the stranger was, he was singing a song by Frank Sinatra. Old, maybe, but his voice suited the song - or rather the song suited his voice. His voice held just a hint of rasp at the low notes while flowing like honey for the higher notes. 

“I wish I was that talented,” Shinwon said, sighing as he slung his arm around Hyunggu’s shoulder. “Instead, I’m making coffee for a living and contemplating the meaning of life.”

“Hey, if it weren’t for you making coffee, we wouldn’t have met,” Hyunggu said, breaking out of his daze. “Besides, who knows, maybe that’s how our other soulmate knows you.”

“Think so? It really could be anyone, then. There’s so many people who come in regularly.”

“Well, I think you would have noticed if anyone who had come in today had a matching painting on their arm, so at least that narrows it down, right?”

“I guess,” Shinwon said. “Who knew this soulmate business would be so confusing.”

“Confusing, maybe, but I’m glad I have you to be confused with. It’ll be like a mystery book. We just gotta look up the clues,” Hyunggu said, grinning. 

“You’re such an optimist.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“No, it’s actually really cute. I just don’t know how to respond to it,” Shinwon said, and Hyunggu turned to see that he was blushing again. 

“Shinwon, you’re one of the funniest people I’ve met, and today’s only our first date,” Hyunggu laughed.

“What do you mean?”

“You just… one second you’re all smooth and confident and sprouting something poetic, but it takes no effort to make you flustered. It’s funny in an endearing way.” 

“Keep complimenting me and I’ll have to do something about it,” Shinwon said, a hint of challenge in his voice. Hyunggu was never one to back down from a challenge so he turned to face the other, grinning. 

“Oh really? Like what?” He asked, his voice coming out sickly sweet as he stared at the Shinwon.

“Uh…” Shinwon trailed off, his face turning pink as he scratched the back of his neck. Hyunggu couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled out of him as he slapped a hand against Shinwon’s shoulder. “That’s not fair, you’re too good,” Shinwon whined, trying to pout but failing. It was impossible to be mad at Hyunggu and his teasing because his laughter was contagious. Soon enough, he was laughing too, holding onto Hyunggu’s shoulder with tears threatening to spill over the corners of his eyes from laughing too hard. Neither of them were even sure what they were laughing at anymore, and it didn’t matter because it was the type of laughter that couldn’t stop once it started - not until they were both doubled over in pain and breathless from it. 

By the time they were able to catch their breath, the singing had stopped. A group of students were exiting one of the buildings in front of them, carrying cases with their instruments. Hyunggu perked up when he recognized the looming figure of one of his friends. He waved at him with a grin, watching as he turned to say something to the rest of the group before jogging over to them with a grin.

“How’s rehearsal been coming, Wooseok?”

“Good, good. I know the performance is coming up soon, but I wanted to make a small change to the piece we composed. I was hoping I could run it by you sometime?” He asked, dark eyes wide. Then he seemed to notice Shinwon, who still had his arm slung around Hyunggu’s shoulder. “Oh, I’m not interrupting anything am I? I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Wooseok,” he said, extending a hand out to Shinwon.

“Shinwon,” the other laughed softly, taking it in his own as he shook it. Hyunggu stared at their hands, his eyes wide, before turning back to Wooseok.

“You’re fine, Wooseok. Tonight’s not ideal, but I have time before my comp workshop tomorrow if you wanna meet up then and we can go over the piece then.”

“Sure. Wanna just meet for coffee then?”

Hyunggu’s gaze rested on Shinwon and he couldn’t hold back the grin that snaked across his lips. “Coffee would be great.”

“Alright. I’ll see you around, then. Nice meeting you, Shinwon,” Wooseok said, before turning and jogging back to his group.

“Shinwon…” Hyunggu stared at him with a solemn expression.

“Hm?”

“Your hands…”

“What about them?” Shinwon asked, lifting one up to look at it in confusion.

“They’re _tiny.”_

“No they’re not, your friend just has big hands,” Shinwon scoffed.

“Sure,” Hyunggu said, reaching out and taking one of Shinwon’s hands in his own. He held their hands together to compare them.

“Okay… you’ve got me there,” Shinwon huffed, but the pair burst out into laughter again.

It was nice. It felt natural. Even if it was the first time they’d ever hung out, their banter and their conversation flowed easily. Hyunggu wanted to savor every drop of it. Instead, he let go.

“I should probably get going. I’m sure you need the rest anyways,” Hyunggu said, smiling easily. 

“Already? Not that I’m clingy, but I did just find out you were my soulmate today,” Shinwon pouted.

“Here,” Hyunggu sighed, plucking Shinwon’s phone out of his lap, swiping through the screen before going into the contacts and adding himself. “You can text me if you want. That way, we’re not waking up our mystery person. I wanna meet them, but I don’t want them to be cranky from us waking them up at a dumb time again,” he said, laughing.

“Right… part of me wants to push my luck though… it’s fun to tease,” Shinwon said, taking his phone as Hyunggu handed it back to him. He laughed when he looked at the contact name. “Really?”

“I think it’s fitting,” Hyunggu said, shrugging before pushing himself out of the bench. 

“Fair enough. Can I at least walk you home, though?”

“Sure,” Hyunggu said. He instinctively wrapped his arm around Shinwon’s when the other stood up. It was comfortable. It was right. If things felt this right with just one soulmate, he wondered how they would feel when they found their other soulmate.

They began walking back towards the main strip of road. Hyunggu’s apartment was about a 20 minute walk west of campus. It wasn’t a bad walk when it was nice out, but once the weather started to get colder, he’d have to invest in a bus pass. They didn’t get very far because one moment they were walking on the sidewalk, laughing softly and oblivious to the sound of the door flying open next to them, and the next moment they were lying on the ground in a heap, stray pieces of sheet music fluttering in the air above them as a long string of curses left someone’s lips. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer that the idiots 2 lovers tag is @ hui he is the idiot

So maybe the situation was partially - mostly - Hui’s fault for not paying attention to his surroundings. He’d gotten caught up in a practice room and what had started off as him working on a composition had led to him playing random music and singing and getting lost in the atmosphere of it. Sure, it happened frequently enough, but still, he’d lost track of time and was now running late to his friend’s. And of course, said friend had texted him as he was pushing out of the door of the building, carrying his things in a disorganized pile.

**[MJ] don’t worry about it tonight, I know you had a lot of other work you needed to get done !! don’t stay out too late tho, at least /try/ to get some rest,,**

Hui sighed, juggling his phone in his hand to type in a response to MJ. He felt bad. It wasn’t the first time he’d forgotten about plans, and he was sure it wouldn’t be the last. His mind was always moving too quickly, thinking about too many things that he wanted to or needed to get done, and there simply wasn’t enough time for it all. And maybe trying to reply to MJ with his phone in one hand and everything else haphazardly balanced in the other wasn’t the best move. His shoe caught on a crack of the sidewalk, and he barely had time to process that he was falling into people until all of them were lying on the pavement in a heap, the pages of sheet music Hui had been holding slowly fluttering in the air.

Hui cursed, phone forgotten as he pushed himself off of the people and made a desperate grab for the paper before it blew away. He barely registered the groan coming from the ground or the sound of someone standing up, running quickly after something. He stepped out on a piece of paper, catching it before it could blow away and gingerly reaching down to slide it into his folder. He was still missing a couple of pages, but he’d managed to get most of them. He looked around frantically, trying to locate the last pages and failing until his eyes rested on a familiar face and he felt his heart sink.

Ko Shinwon was approaching him with a soft, if not a bit dazed, smile on his face. In his hand were the pages that Hui was missing, and the sleeve of his shirt was rolled up just enough that Hui could see the broad strokes of purple paint that covered his arm. He didn’t have to look to know it was there, but seeing it didn’t settle him anymore. He pasted an apologetic grin onto his own face, tugging at the sleeves of his jacket until they covered half of his hands. 

“I think you dropped these,” Shinwon said, smiling softly.

“Thank you. Sorry for running into you and…” Hui blinked as he noticed the boy on the ground. _Of course._ “Oh, hi Hyunggu! How’s your flute choir coming along?” He asked, taking the pages from Shinwon with his arm that wasn’t marked. 

“It’s been good,” Hyunggu laughed. “Everything fits together great now, so we’ve just been polishing it. I didn’t know you even knew about it,” he said, pushing himself off of the ground with a soft smile. 

Hui’s smile faltered for a second, but he hoped it wasn’t noticeable as he shrugged. “I know about everything that goes on here… that, and I also helped organize the program for the concert. I tried to keep it so people wouldn’t have to scramble from one place to the next, but it’s kinda hard when you’re bad with names,” he laughed.

“Bad with names, maybe, but you remember me,” Hyunggu grinned. He didn’t even seem bothered in the slightest about the fact that Hui had ran into him and Shinwon.

“Well,” Hui shrugged, “it’s kinda hard to forget someone once you decide to let them spend an hour staring at you and drawing you.”

“Thank you for letting me, by the way. Usually people don’t have that kinda patience,” Hyunggu said, and Hui didn’t miss the way that pink flushed across the other’s cheeks. 

“Don’t mention it. Us artists gotta stick together, no matter what the medium is,” Hui laughed. He slid his things into his bag - which he should have done to begin with - before starting to back away. “Sorry for running into you guys again. I’ll stop holding you up,” he laughed.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. Shinwon was just walking me home. We’re in no rush,” Hyunggu said, smiling sweetly. “It was nice talking to you, even if you shoved us to the ground.” The pair laughed and Hui felt a pang in his chest as he saw them lock their arms with each other, beginning to make their way down the sidewalk. 

“I’ll see you around,” Hui laughed.

“Oh! That reminds me,” Shinwon pulled away from Hyunggu for a moment, turning to face Hui. “Are you alright? I missed you this morning,” his voice was soft and he was pouting slightly and Hui felt himself melt slightly. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Hui said, waving his hand dismissively. “I just was woken up early by… noisy neighbors… I fell back asleep and ended up sleeping through my alarms,” he laughed weakly. As far as excuses went, it wasn’t the best, but from all of his previous interactions with Shinwon, he was sure the other would buy into it.

“Oh… well try to get some rest when you get home, okay?”

“Okay, Shinwon,” Hui laughed. He stared after the pair as they walked away, mentally punching himself. Part of him wanted to say something, to run after them and pull up the sleeve of his jacket and show them the painting on his arm, but most of him was terrified. He wasn’t sure why the idea of revealing himself to them was so scary. After all, clearly they wouldn’t care that he was into guys or any other trivial thing like that. But he barely had enough time for himself as it was with his grad school work and personal projects. He couldn’t imagine somehow squeezing two more people into the mix. No, it was better this way. He turned away from them and began to make his way to the bus stop that would lead him off of campus and downtown. While he was at the bus stop, he reached for his phone, only to curse. He must have dropped it back on campus, and he could already see the bus approaching in the distance. The next bus wouldn’t come for at least an hour. His phone would have to wait.

Hui spent the majority of the fifteen minute long bus ride anxiously drumming his fingers on his knees. He didn’t like not having his phone and he didn’t realize how much of a crutch it was until it was gone. He wasn’t a great texter, sure, but he still liked to keep it on him. He liked to play music, tuning out the rest of the world and letting his anxiety melt away into familiar melodies, but without his phone, all he had was the rumble of the bus’s engine and the sound of people talking loudly over each other. He hated riding public transit with a passion. It wasn’t like he thought it was below him or anything, but the closeness of people and the chatter and the strangers all set him on edge. He was always afraid someone would approach him and… he didn’t know… try to kidnap him or something. He was a grad student and he was closer to being 30 than 20; he knew it was ridiculous to worry about, but it didn’t stop him. On top of sleeping past his alarm, he’d forgotten to take his anxiety meds in his rush to make it out the door, and now he was paying for it.

His stop couldn’t come soon enough and he practically flung himself past the crowd of people huddled around the door and into the night. It was a short ride, sure, but it was also the middle of fall meaning that it was significantly darker outside now than it had been when he’d gotten on the bus. He absently wondered if Shinwon and Hyunggu had made it to their destination yet as he adjusted his grip on his bag and made his way up to his apartment building. The lobby was mostly deserted, lit by slightly too bright fluorescent lights. He shuffled to the elevator, bouncing from foot to foot as he waited for the door to open. When it finally did, he stepped inside, wiggling around the button for the fifth floor until it lit up; it was sticky and it never worked unless you fiddled with it for a moment. He moved to press the door close button too, but his hand hovered over it as he heard a curse and running footsteps. At the last second before the doors could close, Yanan shot through the doorway.

Hui sighed in relief upon seeing his roommate. “I didn’t think you were gonna be home until later,” Yanan said by way of greeting.

“I wasn’t, but plans changed. MJ told me I needed to take it easy,” Hui said, watching the lights slowly change as the elevator passed each level. “I meant to text you, but I left my phone on campus,” he frowned.

“Really? If you know where it is, why didn’t you go back for it?”

“It was either my phone or waiting another hour for the next bus,” Hui said, shaking his head.

“You could have called me and asked me to pick you up, you know?” Yanan stared at him with a raised eyebrow. Hui could have done a lot of things, but it was well established that he never took the seemingly obvious opportunities that were presented to him. Instead of responding to Yanan, he gave a half hearted gesture. The other huffed, rolling his eyes before pulling out his own phone and typing a reply to someone. By the time the elevator reached their floor, he was already shoving it back into his pocket, walking out of the elevator with long strides. 

Hui followed after him, watching as he pulled out the keys to their apartment, back turned to him. “So, other than forgetting your phone on campus, how was your day?” Yanan asked, pushing open the door and holding it open for Hui.

“Weird,” Hui said, and really that one word was the best way to sum it up. He kicked off his sneakers before slipping into a pair of slippers and shuffling to his room with his bag.

“Well, I guess if the day has a weird start, it’s destined to stay weird,” Yanan’s voice came from the kitchen. “What happened with the soulmate stuff, anyways? Did you figure out who they were?”

Right. Hui had mentioned that he was woken up from his soulmates bickering on his arm, but he hadn’t told Yanan that he knew exactly who they were already. If anything, the weird interaction from earlier only solidified what he already knew. It was tempting to lie and to say that he still had no idea, but he was an admittedly horrible liar and Yanan happened to have one of the best bullshit detectors in the world. “Yeah,” Hui simply said, hoping that the other would let the conversation end there. 

He didn’t. Hui turned and almost jumped when he saw Yanan standing in his doorway, head tilted slightly in interest. “Who is it? Did you find both of them? Did you talk to them?”

Technically, he had talked to them, but he knew that that wasn’t what Yanan meant. “No… I found them both but they don’t know who I am yet. I just…” Hui shrugged vaguely and Yanan buried his face in his hands with a grown.

“Why not?” 

“I don’t know, Yanan. One’s a guy who’s in the undergrad program and the other works at the coffee shop I’m always at. I barely have enough time for myself as it is. How do I add two more people into that mix?” 

“Oooooo it’s that tall one, isn’t it. The barista with the floppy hair and broad shoulders?”

“Will you be quiet?”

“I’ve seen the way you look at him. I also know he gives you free coffees all the time. What have you got to lose?”

“My sanity,” Hui whined, letting himself fall back onto his bed and burying his face into a pillow. This was ridiculous. Everything about it was ridiculous. Here he was, freaking out over soulmates of all things when he had a billion other projects he could and should be working on - or when he could be resting. 

“Hui, if you don’t tell them, you’ll just prolong your own stress, and when you’re stressed I get stressed, so please for the love of God just tell them, or I will.”

“No you won’t-“

“You’re right, I won’t because that would be mean, but you also gotta say something to them instead of bottling everything up. I’m sure they’d both be happy to have you. Who did you say the other one was?”

“Stop being so nosy,” Hui sighed.

“Whatever. I’m making instant noodles if you want any,” Yanan huffed. Hui didn’t have to look up from his pillow to know that he was rolling his eyes. 

* * *

_Who are you?_

Hui was pleasantly surprised to find that the message scrawled onto his arm in sloppy handwriting hadn’t woken him up. It’d been at least a week since the last message, and honestly he was holding onto the hope that Shinwon and Hyunggu wouldn’t worry about him since they’d found each other. He was wrong though, and he blinked at the message before sighing and grabbing his pen, setting it to his skin.

**_It doesn’t matter._ **

He didn’t even finish the last word before his arm started tingling with the feeling of not one, but two pens. It was around 9 am, so Shinwon should have been on his shift at the coffee shop, but he had no idea what Hyunggu was doing to be able to respond so quickly. 

**What do you mean it doesn’t matter?**

_It matters to me_

Hui buried his face into his hands with a sigh. He was sure the other two were waiting for him to say something, but he wasn’t sure what he even wanted to say. It wasn’t like writing on himself was a convenient way of conveying his feelings. 

**_I have to go. Bye xoxo_ **

He set his pen on his desk before standing up and shuffling to his bathroom. He ignored the tingling on his arm as he peeled his clothes off, stepping into the shower and letting the hot water fall against his skin. He had a full schedule for the day. He was the TA for a class in a couple of hours, and then he was working on a few different projects that were both for his degree and personal. He was also supposed to go to the auditorium that night to help them set up for the concert that would be taking place the following day. He didn’t have the time to worry about soulmates. 

He scrubbed at his arm, watching as his own pen washed away and his skin was left only with Shinwon and Hyunggu’s handwriting. He spared a glance at the spot where Hyunggu had left a final message: **I’ll find u bby, u can’t hide from me :)**

Great. 

His arm started tingling again and he watched as hearts were haphazardly drawn up it. At first, it was clearly just one of them drawing them, although Hui couldn’t tell who, but then the other joined in, drawing hearts on his other arm. He stared at it with a frown, letting out a groan when they decided to start drawing on his hands too. They were trying to make it as hard as possible for him to hide, weren’t they? He sighed, turning off the shower before stepping out and drying his hair. Two could play at that game.

Thankfully, with it nearing the middle of November, it was easy to get away with layers. He pulled on a hoodie and then reached for a pair of fingerless gloves. He didn’t usually opt to wear them because they looked too edgy for his taste, but they were perfect for hiding the hearts that covered his hands. 

When he left his apartment and hopped on the bus towards campus, habit naturally brought him to the coffee shop. He hoped in vain that Shinwon wouldn’t be at the counter, but he didn’t have the best luck and the other was calling out a greeting to him as he walked in. “Usual today?”

“Yeah,” Hui nodded, fishing for his wallet, but Shinwon was already holding up his hand with a soft smile.

“Don’t worry about it,” he laughed, reaching for a cup and writing on it before turning to pour coffee into it.

“Are you even supposed to give me free coffee all the time? One of these days you’re gonna get in trouble for it,” Hui laughed.

Shinwon just shrugged. “They like me too much to do that, and besides, you’re just getting black coffee. That’s like the cheapest thing on the menu besides water,” he grinned. Then he was placing the lid on the cup and handing it to Hui. “Cool gloves.”

“Thanks,” Hui said, and his heart skipped a beat for a moment as he worried that his cover had been blown, but one look at Shinwon told him that the other was completely oblivious. 

“I always think about getting fingerless gloves but I don’t know if they would suit me. What if my hands are too small and they make my fingers look stubby?”

“I mean, if we’re going off of hand size, I think mine are small too but they still look fine,” Hui said with a shrug. “If fingerless gloves will bring joy into your life, then you get those fingerless gloves.” 

“Hui, has anybody told you you’re a genius?”

“Yeah. I think this is the third time you’ve called me a genius this month,” Hui said, deadpan, but then he broke into a grin, laughing. Shinwon just shrugged, a smirk snaking across his face. He even blushed a little, the pink dusting across his cheeks in a way that made Hui want to drop everything and tell him right then and there, but instead he just sighed, thanking him and making his way to the corner of the cafe to take a seat. He had a few papers left to grade for the class and an hour was more than enough time to do so. They were just short papers that the students had to write to prove that they’d attended a required performance, so there wasn’t really much in the way of depth to them anyways. He pulled out his folder and a pen, scanning through until he found the papers he was looking for. 

For a little bit, he was able to skim the papers and grade them in peace, occasionally pausing to take a sip of his coffee or check the time, but about halfway through the second, he heard a throat clear. “Do you mind if I sit with you? Everywhere else is crowded,” Hyunggu said, smiling sweetly. 

“By all means, go ahead,” Hui nodded quickly, pulling his things so they weren’t taking up the whole table.

“Thanks,” Hyunggu laughed, sliding into the booth comfortably across from him and pulling out his things. He set a notebook with blank staff paper in front of him as well as his laptop and his earbuds. “How have the preparations for the concert been coming?” 

“Good,” Hui nodded. His eyes lingered on Hyunggu’s arm for a moment too long as he slid off his jacket. He could see the sloppy sprawl of his own handwriting snaking its way across it and the other caught him staring and flushed.

“I have a mystery I’m trying to solve,” he said, whispering dramatically. Hui knew. He was a terrible liar, but he went along with it anyways, leaning forwards and resting his head on his hands.

“Oh? What kind of mystery?”

Hyunggu held out his arm. “I have two soulmates. I figured out who one of them is, but I’m stumped on the other one. They keep hiding from me and I don’t know why,” he pouted, but just as quickly he brightened up. “I’m gonna find them though! Shinwon and I make a good team,” he grinned. As if on cue, Shinwon made his way to the table, setting a mug in front of Hyunggu. It was a latte and he’d made a heart in the foam. 

“Mind if I join you guys?” 

Hui nodded quickly and Hyunggu was already sliding over to make room for Shinwon. He was digging himself a hole, and it was a miracle they hadn’t found him out already. It wasn’t like the fingerless gloves were his most subtle idea, but they had worked so far, so he’d have to just hold on a little longer. He trained his eyes back on the paper, skimming it and finishing grading it as Hyunggu and Shinwon chatted. He tried not to eavesdrop on them, focusing his attention on the paper, but it was hard when their conversation shifted back to soulmates.

“Any leads?” 

“No,” Hyunggu said with a pout. “The heart thing was a good idea, but whoever it is, they are determined to hide.”

“Damn,” Shinwon said with a sigh, “I thought we’d find them for sure with the hands. It’s not exactly easy to hide-“ his sentence dropped away as he turned to look at Hui, but before he could say anything, Hui was already shoving his things in his bag and shrugging his jacket back on.

“Are we that terrible of company,” Hyunggu teased, and Hui laughed weakly, trying to act as casual and unconcerned as he could.

“No no no, I just have a class soon. I gotta finish grading a couple papers too. It was nice seeing you both, though,” he said with a smile. He backed away quickly and then he was pushing out of the cafe and making his way towards campus. He could feel both of their eyes on him as he walked away and he almost heaved a sigh of relief when he crossed the street and the cafe disappeared from view. 

* * *

“It’s Hyunggu, isn’t it?” Yanan said by way of greeting as Hui shuffled into their apartment. It was Friday and he wanted nothing more than to pass out, but he’d promised Jinho and Hongseok that he’d go out for drinks with them. Still, he had to get home and change out of the stuffy clothes he wore to teach and into something more comfortable. 

“Hi, Yanan.”

“Give me your hand,” the other said, and Hui didn’t protest when he walked up to him and pulled off the glove he’d been wearing. On his hand was a simple flower. It looked like something a child could have drawn, and in the center of it was face made up of various characters. 

“Shinwon drew that, not Hyunggu,” Hui said, rolling his eyes.

“Well yeah, but Hyunggu had it on him too,” Yanan said as if it was obvious. It might have been a little obvious, but Hui had managed to hide it away for long enough, he didn’t want his roommate going and blowing his cover. “You have to tell them eventually, you know?”

“Yeah, I know,” Hui sighed. “I just need time, and I don’t have time right now.”

“You are the most stubborn and emotionally constipated person I have ever met.” 

“Yanan,” Hui said in warning.

“How much time?”

“Just. Just let me get through finals, okay? I’m almost done with my classes, and once I’m out of grad school I’ll finally have time to breathe and think and process things.”

“Okay, but as soon as finals are done, you better say something.” 

“Okay,” Hui said, waving a hand dismissively as he pushed past Yanan and into his room. 

He still had about a month and a half until finals. Midterms and most of the big mid semester projects had wrapped up in the past couple of days, but it was just one stressful project after another. It was always easier for Hui to dive into work and projects than worry about his feelings, but the idea of finals coming up so quickly didn’t do much to ease him. He had a month and a half to figure out what he wanted out of life and what his plan was. He had a month and a half to work up the guts to talk to Hyunggu and Shinwon. He just hoped that when he did, he wouldn’t screw things up. 


	3. Chapter 3

**_Thank you._ **

Shinwon blinked at the message as it appeared on his arm before looking around the cafe in confusion. Usually, the beginning of winter would mean people were less likely to venture outside, but with the semester ending the following week, the cafe was consistently packed. He still hadn’t managed to figure out who his second soulmate was, and although he was more than happy with Hyunggu, the not knowing had been getting to him. That, along with the fact that the last time the other person had written anything had been almost a month ago. 

Although he had wanted to keep prying, Hyunggu had told him weeks ago that maybe they should give the person space. Whoever it was, they’d tell them when they were ready, right? They just needed time. Shinwon had reluctantly agreed, although part of him was impatient. He had no idea who it was and although he couldn’t deny that he had a few other little crushes here and there, the idea that the other person might know his identity but not the other way around was unsettling. 

_ For what? _

At the same time as he set his pen to his skin, he could see Hyunggu’s handwriting appearing beneath his own, asking the same question. 

**_For waiting. Just wait a little longer, okay?_ **

Shinwon didn’t know how to reply to that so he sighed, setting his pen down, eyes returning to the cafe. Minhyuk was at the counter, cashing out an order for one of Hyunggu’s friends. She was with a guy he vaguely recognized, but he couldn’t remember his name. Shinwon took the cups as they were handed to him, going through the motions of making the drinks, although he was barely aware of it. He smiled at the pair as he handed them their drinks and they thanked them before moving to sit at a booth in the corner. 

“Hey,” a hand appeared in front of Shinwon’s face, fingers snapping and causing him to flinch. He turned, meeting eyes with Hongseok. 

“Hm?”

“You’re spacing out again. Do you need a break?” 

Hongseok had been one of Shinwon’s best friends for as long as he could remember, and was also one of the main reasons he’d lucked out with the job at the coffee shop. He ran it with his friend Sanghyuk and the duo both knew Shinwon well. They more or less let him do whatever he wanted as long as he was polite to customers and organized. 

“No, I’m just tired,” Shinwon said. It wasn’t really a lie; he’d been up late marathoning  _ Stranger Things  _ with Hyunggu, which had ended with it playing forgotten on his tv while the pair’s attention had shifted elsewhere. It had been nice, and it’d been nicer still to wake up and see Hyunggu’s hair sticking in every direction as he slept peacefully, the light from the window streaming in and warming his skin. Shinwon had left him there, leaving him a key on the counter and a pot of coffee prepared for him to help himself to whenever he finally decided to wake up. 

Although they’d both been cautious at first, not wanting to rush into anything, they had meshed together so naturally and perfectly. Shinwon guessed it made sense, with them being soulmates and all, but he’d heard about people who hadn’t worked things out with their soulmates before too. Although he was already head over heels for Hyunggu, part of him was worried that he’d be one of those unlucky people, but as time passed his worries melted away. Everything about Hyunggu fit with him perfectly. His hands were soft and his voice was sweet and he seemed to always understand everything without Shinwon even having to say anything. They grounded each other.

“Here,” Hongseok was pushing a cup of coffee into Shinwon’s hand. “This’ll help,” he said. He had a smile on his face and Shinwon lifted the cup to his lips without thinking about what Hongseok might or might not have made. As soon as it hit his lips his face scrunched up.

“What the hell-“

“You’re such a baby. A little espresso never hurt anybody,” Hongseok teased.

“Yeah. A  _ little.  _ This is  _ only _ espresso,” Shinwon grumbled. He wasn’t a fan of bitter things at all. He wasn’t even a huge coffee or tea person and usually if he was going to drink something, he was going to get the sweetest possible latte or mocha. More often than not, though, he just settled for hot chocolate.

“Yeah, well you still have a couple hours left today so I need you awake. Drink up,” Hongseok said, patting him on the back as he lifted the cup to his lips again. 

By the time that Hyunggu shuffled inside, Shinwon only had about fifteen minutes left of his shift. The other’s nose and ears were pink and snowflakes clung to his hair as he made his way to the counter. “I was wondering when I’d see you, Sleeping Beauty,” Shinwon said, lips quirking into a smirk as he began to brew Hyunggu’s drink.

“I’m surprised. Usually I don’t sleep in this late, but I slept like a baby. I didn’t even wake up from you leaving this morning,” Hyunggu sighed, leaning against the counter. 

“Well, you deserve the rest. You’ve been going nonstop the past couple of weeks, so it’s nice to have a little break, yeah?”

“Yeah. I’m just ready for this semester to end. Once it’s over, I just have to get through the spring and then I graduate.”

“Time has been passing so quick,” Shinwon sighed, mixing syrup in the cup before pouring the espresso shots in as well.

“Tell me about it. I only have like half of a plan for what I wanna do next. I haven’t even thought about applying anywhere because I’ve been so focused on just getting through this year. People keep asking me what my plans are and I just wanna start screaming.”

“Hey. It’ll be alright, ‘Ggu. You don’t need to have all the answers right away.”

“Yeah,” Hyunggu sighed in front of him. He still looked stressed but his shoulders relaxed some. “Still, I feel like everybody else already has a full plan. Wooseok already has his grad school planned and Yuto already has a job sorted out. Even Sanha seems to have everything figured out and he still has a couple years left here.”

“You’ll get through it. I’m rooting for you, and everybody else I know is too,” Shinwon smiled, setting Hyunggu’s cup in front of him. He took it with an apologetic smile before lifting it to his lips and taking a sip. He hummed, smiling as he sipped it. 

“I don’t know what I’d do without you, babe.” 

Shinwon didn’t know what to say to that, so instead he just shrugged, smiling softly. He could feel his cheeks heating up and it was almost comical how flustered Hyunggu was able to make him after all this time. They’d made things official after a couple weeks of casual dates and hanging out, and although they fit together so nicely, Shinwon always felt the same giddiness as if he’d just met Hyunggu. He never wanted to let go of the feeling. It was nice and sweet and maybe they’d done plenty of things together, but at the end of the day, Shinwon’s feelings were about as innocent as they could get. 

“So what are your plans for the day?”

“I was gonna head to the studio for a bit. I have my dance final on Monday and I still have a lot of cleaning up to do on my choreo,” Hyunggu said with a shrug.

“Well, I’m off in…” Shinwon paused, glancing down at his watch, “seven minutes. If you wait for me, I can drive you there.”

“Are you sure?”

“Hyunggu, the studio’s across campus. I’m not gonna make you walk through all the snow. Besides, maybe I wanna see you at work,” Shinwon said, laughing. It was rare that Hyunggu was the more flustered one, but Shinwon didn’t miss the way that the other’s cheeks turned pink as he gaped at him.

“I dunno, ‘Wonnie. It’s nowhere near perfect yet-“

“Babe, I’m sure it’s better than you think. I won’t watch if you really don’t want me to, but I’ve always been curious. You’ve never let me watch you dance before,” Shinwon said with a pout.

“I think I danced for you fine last ni-“

“That’s not what I meant, you prick,” Shinwon laughed, reaching out to softly punch Hyunggu in the shoulder. The other laughed too, rolling his eyes.

“Fine, you can come. Just don’t distract me,” Hyunggu gave in.

“You won’t even know I’m there.”

* * *

Shinwon wasn’t being distracting. He was sure of it. All he was doing was sitting off to the side of the room, basking in the music that played over the speaker and watching as Hyunggu moved fluidly across the floor. He danced as if it were the most natural thing in the world and Shinwon wouldn’t have been surprised if he told him he’d come out of the womb dancing. He was made for dance and it was mesmerizing to watch. He was able to go from powerful to delicate to sensual as easily as he breathed and watching him dance made Shinwon’s mouth dry. He licked his lips, watching as Hyunggu continued to move, savoring the moment, but then the other sighed, pausing the music.

“What’s wrong?”

“I can’t get this transition right,” Hyunggu said with a pout. “I’ve practiced it time and time again and I still haven’t found the right way to nail it…”

“I think it looks perfect,” Shinwon said. He was being honest. He might not have been a dancer or had the training to be able to pick out the little mistakes that Hyunggu thought he saw, but he thought that everything Hyunggu did flowed beautifully and naturally. 

“That’s easy for you to say. It’s hard to get in the zone with you sitting there.”

“What? I’ve been perfectly quiet this whole time?”

“Maybe, but the way you’re staring at me,” Hyunggu huffed. “I can practically feel you stripping me with your eyes, Shinwon.”

He flushed at that. So maybe he’d been staring a little intensely, but Hyunggu was his boyfriend so Shinwon thought that he had every right to stare. He was beautiful and handsome and moved so fluidly that it was hard  _ not  _ to stare. Especially when he knew what Hyunggu was capable of. “You’re nice to look at,” Shinwon simply said, pushing himself to his feet and making his way to Hyunggu. “But really. Your dance looks amazing and you should cut yourself some slack. You’ve been at this for at least an hour. Give yourself a break, okay?”

“Fine,” Hyunggu said, pouting as he reached for Shinwon’s hand, holding it in his own tightly. “A few minutes won’t hurt.”

* * *

**_What are you doing tomorrow night?_ **

Shinwon and Hyunggu pulled apart, blinking as the familiar handwriting began to snake it’s way across their wrists at the same time. 

“Our soulmate has impeccable timing,” Hyunggu said deadpan, pulling himself off of Shinwon. 

“Babe, you know you don’t have to reply right away, right?” Shinwon whined, eyes following the other as he shuffled over to the desk, searching for a pen. 

“God, Shinwon, I know you have a pen somewhere. Don’t tell me you hid them all.”

“Yeah, you keep stealing them, asshole,” Shinwon grumbled as he rolled onto his stomach. Hyunggu was determined, so he’d have to be patient. He could practically hear the other rolling his eyes at his comment. He watched as he finally found a sharpie laying on the floor, bending down to grab it and pulling the cap off before setting it to his skin. At the same time he began writing, his words began appearing on Shinwon’s skin.

**Performance @ 730**

**_Anything after?_ **

**Date with you?**

“Smooth,” Shinwon said, and Hyunggu shrugged.

“Usually they’re not the one who initiates conversation, so maybe it’s finally our chance.”

**_Bring Shinwon too._ **

“Who the hell-“ Shinwon furrowed his eyebrows looking at his arm incredulously. He’d suspected that they knew who he was, but that didn’t make it any less jarring to see his name written. “Give me that,” he grumbled, peeling himself out of bed and making grabby hands at Hyunggu. The other frowned, yanking the marker out of reach. 

“Ask nicely.”

“Give me  _ my _ marker, please,” Shinwon said, but the please was added on for show as he wrapped his arms around Hyunggu, pinning his arms to his side to keep him from moving around as he plucked the marker out of his hand. 

“Asshole,” Hyunggu huffed.

“Maybe, but you love it,” Shinwon rolled his eyes, before setting the marker to his skin.

_ Who are you?? _

He didn’t even have to see the other person to know that they were laughing at him. He could practically feel their stupid smirk through his damn arm when they began writing again. 

**_Be patient. I’ll see u in the morning x_ **

“I thought they said after your concert,” Shinwon said, frowning at his arm in confusion. 

“I think that’s a hint. Not a very helpful one though. That could still be plenty of people,” Hyunggu sighed. 

“I hope it’s Hui.”

“Why?”

“He has nice lips.”

“Do I not have nice lips?”

“They were a lot nicer when they were on me instead of bickering with me,” Shinwon said, sticking his tongue out at Hyunggu, and the other rolled his eyes. He took the bait though, because he shuffled towards Shinwon, pushing him back onto the bed. 

“Alright you big baby. Where were we again?”

“I believe you were telling me how amazing I am as you made sweet and delicious love to me,” Shinwon said, grinning.

“You’re ridiculous,” Hyunggu laughed, but then he was dipping down to press a soft kiss against his neck, and just like that, they were back on track. 

* * *

Shinwon yawned as he walked into the cafe at a crisp 6:22 am. He was on opening duty with San that day which meant the two of them had to get there a half an hour earlier than usual. A half an hour really wasn’t that much time, but when setting an alarm in the morning, that half an hour felt like easily the worst thing in the world. Despite him being tired and it being early, Shinwon’s body was thrumming with anticipation. He’d get to meet his soulmate today. Maybe they’d made him and Hyunggu wait for a while, but he was sure they had their reasons, and once they finally got to talk he knew that the wait will have been worth it. 

“Morning,” San said from behind him as he walked up to the counter. Shinwon was punching into the register, and when it printed his time, he tossed it into the recycling bin below the counter. 

“Morning,” Shinwon said in response, giving him a grin.

“You’re awfully energetic today.”

“Am I? I’m still tired,” Shinwon sighed, stepping away from the register so that San could clock in as well. He plucked a cup from the stack next to the register, immediately starting to make himself a drink. He wanted something with espresso in it but he didn’t want to be able to actually taste it. He settled on making a mocha, beginning to brew some espresso before mixing up the syrup and milk in his cup. He added cinnamon and brown sugar for extra flavor because why not? 

“Well, what’s the occasion then?

“I finally get to figure out who my soulmate is,” Shinwon said, shooting another grin at San. The other’s eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.

“What are you talking about? You and Hyunggu have been together for like a month?”

“Oh yeah, not him,” Shinwon clarified. “My other soulmate. I thought I’d mentioned I had two.”

“Wait- really?” San reached for a cup, joining Shinwon as he began to make himself a drink of his own.

“Yeah, really. Don’t look so shocked,” Shinwon laughed.

“Oh, it’s not that. I have two soulmates too…” San said, grinning. 

“Why didn’t you tell me!?”

“You never asked,” San laughed, setting his cup down to pull out his phone. “Here,” he said as he scrolled through his phone. “This is us,” he handed the phone to Shinwon who looked at it with curiosity. San stood in the middle of the picture while the other two stood with their arms around his shoulders. San’s face was broken into a huge grin, his eyes scrunched shut. The guy to his left was grinning as he gave him bunny ears and his hair was falling in front of his face in an unruly mess while the guy to his right wore a more reserved smile, staring at the camera with warm eyes. 

“How did you find out about them?”

“I had a lot of classes with Seonghwa and neither of us had really thought about soulmates. Then, one night when we were hanging out to work on a presentation, someone started drawing random shit and it appeared on both of us. There were some stars and some stick figures and some flowers and by the time Woo was done with us, we both basically had full sleeves. We were both pretty shocked, to say the least,” San said with a laugh. 

“How did you figure out it was him?” 

“Well, once we got through the initial awkwardness of finding out we were also soulmates, it wasn’t that hard. It was summer so we both just walked around campus in tank tops until he noticed us. Neither of us had written anything back to him, so he was surprised to see not one, but two of us. What’s your story, then?”

“Well? I knew about Hyunggu for a while. He drew flowers on my arm and it was pretty easy to figure out who it was since he comes in all the time. I’d seen him draw plenty of times and I definitely already had a little bit of a crush, so it made sense. But he stopped drawing the flowers, and so I asked about it one morning before I got ready for work. It was pretty early and he didn’t appreciate being woken up, but then when we started bickering, it woke up our other soulmate. Whoever it was basically told us to go to sleep. They didn’t even bat an eye at having two soulmates. At first we thought we could find them, but they were clearly trying to hide, so we decided to be patient and wait for them.”

“And?”

“And yesterday they asked what our plans were for tonight. I finally get to figure out who they are.”

“That’s awesome,” San laughed, slapping Shinwon on the back. 

“I’m excited to meet them. I mean I definitely already know them, I’m sure of it, but it’ll be nice to finally know we’re soulmates, you know?”

“Yeah. Well, that’s enough chatting. Finish your coffee so we can open this place up,” San said, lifting his own cup to his lips. Shinwon nodded, pouring the espresso into his cup and mixing it together before topping it with whipped cream and placing the cup against the back counter so that it was out of the way. Then he set to work on brewing coffee. The shop had a rotating lineup of what brews they used each day, and the ones for that day were a decaf, a dark roast from a local business, a medium roast from California, and a roast that had chestnut and hazelnut in it. 

When they opened the shop up, it was slow for the most part. People trickled in slowly, and most of them didn’t stay to drink their coffee, only getting it on the way to their classes or work. Shinwon made small talk with them, smiling politely and laughing at jokes a few regulars made and wishing students luck on their exams. He glanced down at his phone for a moment to send Hyunggu a good morning text, and when he looked up, Hui was strolling up to the counter, a soft smile on his face. Shinwon’s eyes darted to the other’s arms but it was winter; he was wearing a coat and Shinwon wasn’t sure what he expected to find. 

“Morning,” Hui said, beginning to fish his wallet out of his pocket, but Shinwon rolled his eyes with a laugh.

“I don’t even know why you bother bringing your wallet at this point. You know I’m not gonna make you pay,” Shinwon laughed.

“Maybe, but if someone else was working the counter, they might.”

“That’s why I always make sure I’m working the counter when you walk in,” Shinwon said, winking at Hui as he reached for a cup and turned to the coffee. Usually Hui preferred medium roast, but Shinwon knew that the other had a soft spot for the chestnut and hazelnut roast, so he filled the cup with that instead, before handing it to Hui.

“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” Hui laughed, his face scrunching up in a way that made Shinwon’s heart lurch in his chest. It  _ had  _ to be him. If it wasn’t, then Shinwon was probably the biggest idiot in the world because he would be a fool to try to deny having a crush on him. 

“Funny hearing you say that,” he said with a laugh.

“Oh? Why’s that?” Hui asked, leaning against the counter as he lifted up his cup to his lips.

“The last person who said that to me was my  _ other _ soulmate.”

Hui choked on his coffee, his face flushing, but he attempted to recover and the effort was endearing. 

“Here,” Shinwon said, grabbing a napkin and reaching across the counter. When he dabbed at the coffee that’d gotten on Hui’s chin, the other looked like his soul was about to leave his body. When he pulled back, Hui was staring at him with a shocked expression. Not upset-shocked, by any means, but more of a flustered-shocked. Shinwon felt victorious for a moment because even if he wasn’t best friends with Hui, he knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t be so embarrassed if Shinwon was wrong. “I’m sure you’ve got things to do, so I’ll stop bugging you for now. See you tonight,” Shinwon said. It was the final nail because Hui couldn’t do anything but nod in response. Then, he was shuffling out of the cafe, coffee in a hand and Shinwon couldn’t help but grin at the fact that his ears were pink.

“What was that about?”

“Just some good detective work on my part,” Shinwon said with a grin.

“Oh? Is he the one?” San asked, eyes darting to the door before resting on Shinwon again.

“I’m sure of it.”

* * *

Shinwon felt out of place in the auditorium as people filed in, taking seats and talking to each other animatedly. Most of the audience was older people with a handful of music students and other people peppered in. Nobody was dressed fancy by any means, but Shinwon still felt underdressed in his blue jeans and white button down. He sat in one of the sections near the front and off to the side of the stage, watching as a handful of music students shuffled on to make sure the chairs and stands were arranged correctly before disappearing offstage again. Then, the main lights were dimmed and the audience quieted as the ensemble began to walk onstage. It was a band, so there weren’t any string instruments other than a harp that sat off to the side, but Shinwon had seen Hyunggu perform with an orchestra before as well. He’d grown used to seeing the other walk on with the flautists, but that night he walked on the stage near the end, following the percussionists before taking his seat at the piano. 

Although Shinwon knew Hyunggu was a skilled pianist, he’d never seen him play before and he couldn’t help but watch in interest. His attention was quickly brought away from the boy at the piano as the conductor walked on stage, followed by a familiar figure. Hui stood next to the conductor as she thanked everybody for coming and then gestured to Hui, identifying him as not only one of the masters students, but also as the composer of the first piece that the group would be playing. He stepped up to the microphone with a shy smile, explaining that this was the piece’s debut and that the group had done such a beautiful job with it, saying that he couldn’t wait for his creation to be shared with the audience. 

“Everytime the students asked me what inspired the piece, I didn’t have an answer. I kinda composed it on a whim, and I never expected it to see the light of day. But I like to think of this piece as a sign. It means change. When I wrote it, I was burying myself in work and not really thinking about taking care of myself, let alone things like friends and family. It’s funny because the night that I finished writing it, I got a sign. A sign that there was more out there than work and that things would be different. After that, I worked diligently on perfecting the piece, and then I brought it to your lovely conductor to see what her thoughts were. As she looked it over, she told me she was impressed, and when I told her I’d written the majority of it in the middle of the night she looked at me like I had three heads. Then, she asked if she could have this piece performed by her ensemble. It was a no-brainer to agree, and this piece wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for each and every one of these students. I’d like to thank Ms. Yang for this opportunity, these students for their beautiful artistry, and the muses that I didn’t realize I had,” Hui bowed his head, smiling as the audience applauded him. Then, after shaking the conductor’s hand, he made his way offstage, taking a seat in the audience. 

The conductor made her way to the podium, surveying the ensemble and nodding at them, and then she raised her baton. 

The piece started off with a gentle and melodic harp, filling the room as its notes drifted through the air before a clarinet slowly joined it, soft notes dancing with the harp. Then, the piano and a horn joined the clarinet as the melody began to build. As the music swelled, the rest of the ensemble slowly joined in, playing a melancholic tune that flowed gently through the room. Hyunggu sat at the piano, fingers moving softly as he played a harmony perfectly in sync with the clarinet and Shinwon noticed that he didn’t even have sheet music in front of him. His eyes rested on the conductor, staring at her and breathing with her as she moved her baton through the air fluidly. Then, the ensemble slowly began to drop away until all that was left was the piano and the horn, joining the clarinet as they played three separate melodies that mingled with each other in a way that was almost hypnotic. Shinwon wasn’t a musical genius by any means, but he couldn’t help but glance at Hui, wondering how the hell he had managed to come up with something so breathtaking in a night. The clarinet slowly dropped away as well, gradually fading to the background as the horn and piano’s melodies slowly built, cascading around each other before merging into a new melody that was their own. As the melody built, the rest of the ensemble began to trickle back in, harmonizing with it and helping it build until the only person not playing was the solo clarinetist. The auditorium was filled as the melody erupted into a long, sustained note that slowly faded away until the only one playing was the clarinetist. They played the same melody that the piano and horn had been playing, softly at first and then more confidently as the piano and horn joined back in. The piece ended with a barely audible chord from the three musicians as the conductor slowly lowered her baton. 

The applause was immediate and Shinwon couldn’t help but stand up as he clapped. He was the first to stand up, but slowly, people began to join him. He didn’t care if people stared because the piece was beautiful and Hyunggu was beautiful and Hui was a goddamn prodigy. He met eyes with Hyunggu from the stage and the other smiled, nodding his head slightly in acknowledgement as he beamed at the audience. Then, the audience slowly took their seats once again, the applause dying down slowly as the conductor smiled at them before moving back to the microphone to introduce the next piece. The rest of the concert passed in a blur. Each piece was beautiful and Shinwon found him getting lost in the contrasting music that the ensemble performed, but at the back of his mind was Hui’s piece. It felt important and it had struck something in him that he didn’t even know was there. As the ensemble finally filtered off of the stage after the final applause, Shinwon got to his feet, making his way through the halls of the building to meet Hyunggu backstage. 

He found Hyunggu talking to his friend Wooseok. The last time Shinwon had seen the taller boy, he’d been holding a violin, but this time he was carefully putting away a trombone, smiling at Hyunggu as he talked animatedly. By the time that Hyunggu turned to see Shinwon, he was already pulling him into a tight hug, placing a kiss on top of his head.

“You did a great job, baby,” he said, grinning. 

“Thank you,” Hyunggu beamed back. “What was your favorite piece?”

“The first one, of course. They were all amazing though but the first one really hit differently.”

“That one was my favorite too… I’ve never played something that felt so natural to me before. It’s like it was made for me,” he looked thoughtful as he said it. 

“Really?” Wooseok’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “I love the song, of course, but I woulda thought that your favorite would have been the Mackey piece, ‘Won. You always struck me as a loud-and-energetic-with-lots-of-percussion kinda guy.”

“Usually, but it didn’t take hearing Hui’s music to know he was a genius,” Shinwon laughed.

“What’s with you and calling me a genius?” Hui’s voice came from behind Shinwon, and if he thought he looked nice from afar, he was downright adorable up close. Although the students who’d performed were clad in concert black, Hui wore a full tuxedo, including a jacket with tails. It suited him. Shinwon blinked at him, his cheeks heating up. 

“I didn’t know you knew each other! Small world,” Wooseok laughed, clicking his case shut and slinging it over his shoulder. “I’m sure I’ll see you all around though. Unlike you guys, I still have a final left in the morning so I need to start studying like…” he peered down at his watch but Shinwon suspected it was more for show, “a month ago.” 

“Bye, Wooseok! Drive safe,” Hyunggu waved at him as he walked away. 

“Did you really like it that much?” Hui asked, turning to Shinwon again, a glint in his eyes.

“Yeah. I don’t think I’ve ever heard something so beautiful. I know we don’t know each other well, but it really felt like…  _ you.  _ But more than just that. I can’t quite place it, but something about it really stuck with me…”

“I know what you mean…” Hyunggu said, his expression turning to something thoughtful. “You did a wonderful job, Hui. I’m lucky to have the privilege to play for you,” he said, and his smile was genuine. 

“That… that means a lot coming from you. Both of you. Seriously,” Hui laughed, raking a hand through his hair. As he did so, the pieces he’d carefully styled in place came loose, a couple strands falling into his face. “And… I actually wanted to talk to you guys,” his laugh was shaky. Shinwon could see him beginning to flush, and he was wondering how he was gonna say it. He could tell that the other was nervous but he wasn’t sure why he was so nervous. Besides, Shinwon already knew so that was one less person to be worried about. He smiled encouragingly but then his eyes slid to Hyunggu and he realized that maybe he wasn’t the most oblivious person in the room after all because although the other was smiling and nodding, Shinwon could see plain on his face that he was completely clueless. He stifled a laugh.

“Anything, Hui. What would you like to tell us?” Shinwon asked, grinning knowingly. 

“Well…” he cleared his throat and Shinwon watched his face twist as he realized that he was at a complete loss for words. “God, I’m such an idiot. Sorry for ignoring you both for so long.”

“What do you mean? I’ve talked to you like every day this week,” Hyunggu said, frowning.

This time, Shinwon didn’t bother to stifle the laugh. “That’s not what he means, you idiot,” he said, and Hyunggu pouted, but Shinwon could see the moment that it clicked in his head.

“You!?”

“Don’t sound so disappointed,” Hui said.

“Disa- I’m not-“ Hyunggu gave up on searching for words as he threw his hands up in the air before marching up to Hui and closing the distance between them with a swift kiss. Shinwon let out a low whistle. 

“Damn, Hui. You should consider yourself lucky,” he said as Hyunggu pulled back. Hui’s face resembled a tomato very closely as he stared at the other with a stunned expression. “Hyunggu didn’t kiss me until like… our third date?”

“I…” 

“So are you gonna let me take you on a date finally?” 

“Yeah…” Hui said after a moment. He was clearly still stunned from the kiss as he stared at Hyunggu with wide eyes. Then he blinked, nodding quickly. “A date would be nice,” he laughed. It was soft and awkward and he was a blushing mess, but it didn’t matter. He was a blushing mess in a  _ tuxedo _ and he was his goddamn soulmate, and Shinwon couldn’t stop grinning. 

Part of him had been worried that whoever the second soulmate was, things wouldn’t be as smooth as with Hyunggu, and another part of him was worried that it would be hard to be with two people, but when he stared at the pair in front of him he realized that he couldn’t have been more wrong. No, this was absolutely perfect and he couldn’t wait to make Hui just as much of a part of his life as he’d made Hyunggu over the past month and a half. 

They would be alright. That, he knew, without a doubt. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank u for reading hehe I was gonna add like an epilogue but I couldn't think of a good way to go about it so ill just leave it as is :^)

**Author's Note:**

> Lemme know what y’all think so far !! Pls leave comments don’t be shy (and you can also dm me on twt too @mcshinwon) !!


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